Stop & Stop is a game where after a coin is insert, the dial rapidly spins and the player can press a button to stop it on a number. If the player has not pressed a button within a rather short timespan, the arrow will randomly stop on its own, like a slot machine. The player gets three spins and their total determines the outcome. It is set to 10 yen play.
Stop & Stop appears in the 1974/1975 machine directory and the 1978 machine directory.
1974/1975 machine directory entry
1978 machine directory entry
Similar to the machine Playlearn ABC, this machine appears to be a modified version of a German addimint machine.
The payout proportioning was probably kept the same on Stop & Stop. To alter it would require some sensitive engineering! Just convert 10 pfennig pieces to 10 yen coins, much easier.
Payouts for each final value would be:
12: ¥100
11: ¥80
10: ¥50
9: lose
8: ¥20
7: lose
6: ¥10 yen (your coin back)
5: lose
4: lose
3: ¥10
2: ¥10
1: ¥100
0: ¥100
This payout structure offers some gameplay decisions. The 0 or 4 are the numbers you are aiming for. Each is bounded by 2s, so a pro at this game will get punished severely as the 2 is the mediocre result. Going for 3x4=12 offers a smoother consolation if you miss the 4, but realistically you'll end up on a 2 meaning the best you can do is 4+4+2=10. But 50 yen for 10 yen play is still enticing.
Going for 0 might seem more enticing as there are 2 values that pay 100 yen, but if you are aiming for the 0 and miss you probably just hit a 2, making a 10 yen return your best case scenario.
My intuition says try for 12.
Some footage of the addi-mint in action. They do not use the stop button.
There was an underground industry active in the 1970s where German machines were imported and converted to yen. It has been a bit of a treasure hunt to identify converted machines from that era.
Lucky Game opened in 1958 on Namiki Street in Ginza 6-chome. It is effectively the first Japanese-made slot machine, but because the history of slot machines in Japan was interrupted at one point, many people believe that the first one appeared in 1964. Perhaps it is the atmosphere of Ginza, or perhaps it is because it is a slot machine, but it has a different feel from pachinko. Even the girls selling the balls (coins) have a slightly different atmosphere.
The development of Japanese-made slot machines focused on how to address the "skill-based gameplay" aspect that was absent in Western slot machines. The first attempt to create such a machine appeared in the summer of 1958, more than 40 years ago. As the photo shows, it appeared in Ginza, Tokyo, under the very direct name of "Lucky Game." The first Japanese-made slot machine was manufactured by Daito Seisakusho, which was originally an automobile parts factory. It took 2 years and 6 months to develop the machine and obtain permission from the Metropolitan Police Department, suggesting that the idea came about when the industry was hit hard by the ban on repeated releases. The Metropolitan Police Department's guidance was that Western-style slot machines could not be installed in "amusement parlors" because they lacked the skill-based gameplay aspect. In response, the company installed stop buttons to stop the reels in order to provide that skill-based gameplay. A predecessor to this machine was the "Fred Machine," which had stop buttons for the first and second reels, but relied on chance for the third reel, so it was rejected outright. However, they went through a lot of trial and error to make it more complex, as adding a stop button to the third reel would allow players to time their button presses to get the winning combination. The symbols used were the twelve zodiac animals, unique to Japanese slot machines. In the end, the first reel stopped automatically, but always displayed some zodiac symbol, and they added stop buttons to the second and third reels and brought it back again. It was the first time a company had come to formally request permission for a Japanese-made slot machine, so the Metropolitan Police Department had a hard time deciding, and they granted permission with conditions such as each game taking more than 15 seconds and the game fee being 20 yen or less per game. It was immediately introduced in Ginza, followed by an American-owned store in Shibuya. At first, it was popular due to its novelty, but the high price per token and the low payout rate quickly led to a decline in popularity. The price of the machine itself was over 100,000 yen, nearly 20 times the price of a pachinko machine at the time, so its introduction was slow, and the history of Japanese-made slot machines came to a temporary halt. Therefore, a misunderstanding arose that the Olympia machine, which appeared in 1964, was the first Japanese-made slot machine. Nevertheless, this "Lucky Game" is the first Japanese-made slot machine confirmed by this magazine. However, in reality, there are stories of slot machines being brought in before the war, and of Japanese manufacturers imitating them. However, this cannot be confirmed, so it cannot be considered "official history." Furthermore, after the war (1952), there were several places in Tokyo (also in Ginza) that were operating illegally, separate from those for the occupying forces. These were, of course, genuine machines and were subjected to harsh crackdowns by the Metropolitan Police Department.
The first machine to fit into a pachinko parlor and to use the term "pachislo," which continues to this day, was the "Pachislo Pulsar" by Shokyu-sha. The name "Pulsar" was apparently chosen when someone involved in the production happened to look out the window while thinking of a name for the machine and saw a car with the same name driving by, so they simply named it that.
This is one of the earliest slot machines in Japan.
are these Stop buttons?
Above the reels, below the logo, there appears to be two buttons. Are these the stop buttons? It is hard for me to say with the quality of the photographs. The text mentions that the early version only had 2 stop buttons, but needed to be changed to 3 buttons to receive permission. Is the machine in the photograph the 2 button version?
Perhaps the knob/button on the bottom-left acts as a stop button as well? There seems to be differences between the models in the 2 photographs.
on the left machine it looks almost like a button, on the right it looks like a button or handle
on these machines we see a more pronounced handle on the machine's bottom-left
One thing I can say with confidence is that these machines are based on a German machine called 'Helo'. My suspicion is that they were imported and modified, similar to how in the 1970s many Germany machines were imported and modified. Some were superficially modified to accept yen coins, but many had more extravagant revamps.
I love that they even kept the same font! The proportions are the same, the framed game area is similar (except Helo has a small button at the top of the frame we do not see on Lucky,) and the payout cup is identical.
The knob on the German machine (Drehen means 'turn') is a handle on Lucky. After you insert a coin you turn the knob to start the reels spinning.
Lucky has the two buttons above the game area and a knob/button in the lower-left corner. On the German machine, pressing the button spins the 2nd reel again. In Japan it appears they modified this gameplay feature to stop the reel, not to spin it again.
This is speculation; I think the button in the bottom corner might be the third stop button.
I do not know all of the differences but in 1955 there was also the 'Helo Elite' model. The score card lists more payout combinations, and the game uses numbers instead of pictures.
The text said that Lucky took 2.5 years to develop. This suggests that they had been working on it since 1955, when Helo was released.
User PaulBohlmann had uploaded some video of the Helo Elite:
If anyone has access to the Metropolitan Police Department records in Ginza, Tokyo, please see if you can find any information on the approvals process for this machine. There might not be many more clues to go on.
How to play STOP & JOKER Insert one 10-yen coin and the numbers will start to rotate. Start when the button lights up. Use the stop function to match the numbers. If you do it right, you'll receive PFG medals equal to the number of matches. Insert PFG medals through the opening in the upper right corner. One coin will be enough for one game. Medals cannot be exchanged for cash, so play all of them. 10 yen per play Only 10-yen coins are accepted.
This machine appears to be a conversion of Roto Mat Joker, released 1963 by Günter Wulff
This episode aired in 1974 but the game could have existed earlier. This is the only example of this game I have ever seen.
This game appears to be a reworking of a German Addi-Mint machine by NSM. There is a single button at the center, bottom, and a ring of numbers around it. You spin the wheel 3 times and the sum of your spins determines if you win.
The dimensions of Playlearn seem slightly different than the addi-mint machines, but sometimes a camera distorts things, and sometimes cabinets could be changed.
1963 add-mint standard by NSM
1964 addi-mint Juwel by NSM
Many German Rotamint-style machines were brought into Japan and used for gambling purposes, and I suspect that Playlearn ABC is another example of that.
